Growing Pains- Chapter 18

Here we go- next chapter for all of you. A little more shameless fluff as this story starts to wrap up- I want to wrap everything up slowly so that I make sure I get all the little pieces pulled into together by the end. Luckily, that means more chapters of Estel's training and fluff for you all!

Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

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"Trust in the strength of the trees. They have been here for far longer than you, and they will be here when you are gone. They will hold your weight."

Estel grimaced, and shifted on the branch on which he was perched. This was by far the hardest thing Legolas had made him do yet. The branches were wet and slippery, and he couldn't help but look down every time he went to jump or move through the trees.

It didn't help that Legolas made it look effortless. He could run through the branches easily, not even looking like he was paying attention to where he was going, although Estel knew he was focused on every detail around them. In contrast, Estel was moving slowly. They were in the thickest part of the woods surrounding Imladris without straying too far from the house, but it was still irritatingly difficult to do what Legolas was asking him to do.

"You do realise I am heavier than you?" he shot back at Legolas. "Plus, I do not have your balance or infuriating sense of where the trees are. In case you haven't worked it out, I am not a wood elf. And this is impossible."

Legolas simply chuckled. "You won't know until you try," he said. "Be grateful I am not making you fight in the trees. In Mirkwood, we use the trees to train the younger warriors, making them spar in the branches. Elladan and Elrohir tried it once." Legolas' smile grew at the memories. "They didn't do it again. Your brothers do not have the same sense of balance that a wood elf has."

"So if they can't do it, why should I?" Estel asked, adjusting his feet on the branches. His new coat was keeping him warm, but he was still soaked through, and a little miserable. The rain hadn't let up at all for the past hour or so that they had been outside.

Legolas rolled his eyes, something that Estel found very un-elf-like, and shifted branches so he was crouched opposite Estel.

"Estel, we are not doing this for my pleasure, or because I did not think you could do it. You said you wanted us to push you harder, to make you better, stronger. This is how we do it. And it may mean trying things that seem impossible, but there is no way you will become what you want to become without doing something that terrifies you, or that you think you simply cannot do."

Estel gritted his teeth. "Fine," he muttered, and Legolas swiftly moved out of the way.

"Keep your eyes on the branch," he said, and Estel sucked in a breath, his eyes focused on the branch across and below from him. He took his hand away from the trunk of the tree and breathed in again. And then his feet left the branch.

For a brief moment he exulted in victory as his feet hit the branch, but the moment was indeed brief. The branch was wet and slippery, and he forgot to bend his knees and crouch as he landed. His feet shot out from underneath him, and then he was falling.

Estel twisted in mid-air as he fell, his reflexes sharp enough to manage that, and landed on his side on the wet, mossy floor. The wind was completely knocked out of him and for a moment he curled in on himself, struggling to draw breath.

There was a slight thump near his head and then a warm hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Estel?" came Legolas' voice from nearby. Estel nodded, and pushed himself up until he was half slouched on the floor of the wood.

His father's lessons rang in his ears, and though his body was panicking and desperate to pull in any air he could get, he kept his breaths slow and measured until finally, they returned to normal. He looked up at Legolas with a weak grin.

"I told you it was impossible," he said with a groan as he fell back onto the wet floor, not caring if the damp was soaking into already wet leggings. Legolas stayed crouched by him, a slight smile coming across his face. He glanced up at the trees.

"It was quite a long fall," he said, but his voice was solemn, and Estel got the impression that he was speaking of something other than the distance from the branch to the ground. He rolled his eyes. Curse Elves and their riddles.

"It would be far easier if you could speak plainly," he said, stretching out cautiously to check he was alright. He ached, but thanks to his brothers and Legolas that was almost a common thing now. He doubted the fall would even leave much of a bruise. He had taken tumbles from trees like that before, only he had been a lot younger, and had bounced more.

Legolas smiled slightly, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I know it can be hard," he said. "Your brothers and I have spent hundreds of years training to be as good as we are now. You are only just starting. And I know that sometimes when you hit the ground it is a long way up again, and you just aren't sure if you want to climb all that way back up, just to fall again. I get that."

"Really?" asked Estel, though there was no ire in his voice. "You and my brothers seem pretty perfect at this stuff to me."

Legolas snorted. "We have made plenty of mistakes, believe me," he said. "And each time it gets a little bit harder to get up. But you have to get up, Estel." He chuckled. "This sounds rather melodramatic for a fall from a tree, but I know from experience that if you do not get up now, it will become even easier to just accept defeat when something far worse happens."

Estel was about to sigh, and then the words that Legolas had said actually filtered through into his mind. Legolas was right. Estel had seen his brothers talking sometimes, when they thought he wasn't really listening, and he knew that times were becoming darker once more. He knew that far worse things were coming for them all. And if he couldn't get back up after falling out of a simple tree, how could he get back up if he had made a mistake costing so much more?

Legolas watched, almost seeing the thoughts flit across Estel's face. And then he almost sighed with relief as Estel rolled over and clambered to his feet.

He had meant it, what he had said about it being so hard to climb all the way back up. He had made mistakes, mistakes that had cost him injuries, or other's injuries or lives. Everyone in Mirkwood had done that at some point or another. An arrow would not fly straight, a plan was not thought through enough, or a sword was not quick enough to stop a blow. They all had done it, but each time it got a little bit harder to climb back up, because each time they were left wondering whether the climb was worth it, and the more they saw, the more they did, the harder it became to believe that it was.

But as Legolas watched Estel clamber to his feet and brush mud from his new coat, he allowed a smile to come across his face. Maybe it was a little easier to get to his feet than he thought.

Estel grinned at him, and glanced back up at the trees. "Are we trying again?" he asked, rolling his shoulders. Legolas felt an easy smile come over his face, and he nodded, jumping up easily into the branches. Estel rolled his eyes, but followed suit.

They made their way back to the place where Estel had fallen before, Legolas moving around so he was opposite Estel on another tree. "Trust your feet," he said. "Trust in the fact that your body doesn't want to fall just as much as your mind. Trust me, Estel. I wouldn't ask you to do this if I thought you couldn't."

Estel nodded, and without waiting too much for his mind to catch up and paralyse him, his feet left one branch and landed squarely on the other. He overbalanced, and stepped forwards again, catching one of the branches over his head and swinging forwards into yet another tree.

A grin came across his face as he landed in a crouch in the tree. There was a faint rustle and then Legolas landed beside him. Estel grinned over at him. "Again?" he asked.

Legolas returned the smile. "Again."

0-o-0-o-0

Estel let out a whoop of joy as he jumped down onto another branch and kept leaping through the trees. This was…incredible. He had never done anything like this before.

"Don't get overconfident," said a voice from nearby, and Estel saw Legolas out of the corner of his eye. He slowed his pace a little, but kept going, his feet finding their footing, his hands grasping hold of the branches above him as he swung around the trunk of a tree and into another one.

Finally he ran out of breath completely, and slowed down to a stop. He looked down. He hadn't realised he was this far up the trees.

Legolas landed beside him, the branch barely shuddering under his weight. "I told you it wasn't impossible," he said. He was barely out of breath.

Estel leant against the tree trunk and struggled to regain his breath. "I…know that…now," he said in between gasps. "It's still…not…exactly…easy."

Legolas chuckled. "It will take a lot more practice for it to become easy," he said. "And it does not help that you are comparing yourself to a wood elf. I grew up in a forest, Estel, and am at home in any trees, anywhere. You did well today."

Estel nodded, and then grimaced as water ran down his neck. The rain hadn't let up once since they had gone outside, but he hadn't really noticed it for most of the time. He glanced up at the sky, surprised to see it was only a few hours away from dusk. "How long have we been out here?" he asked Legolas.

Legolas glanced briefly at the sky. "Nearly four hours," he said. "I didn't realise we had been out so long." He turned to look at Estel, taking in the young man's bedraggled appearance, his soaking wet hair and generally damp appearance. Legolas grinned. "Your brothers better not kill me for letting you get so wet. Mortals fall ill easily, don't they?"

Estel laughed, and shook his head. He didn't take any offence from Legolas' question, knowing the blond elf meant none. "I will not fall ill from one afternoon in the rain," he said. "You don't know much about mortals, do you?"

Legolas chuckled and jumped down from the tree, going from branch to branch and then finally reaching the ground. Estel followed, but more slowly, still not quite having all his breath back from the hours he had spent in the trees.

"No, I don't know much," said Legolas. "We are in contact with mortals as a necessity in Mirkwood, but it is not a habit. At least, it was not before the battle outside Erebor. I am far less travelled than your brothers. The only places I have been outside of Mirkwood are Dale and the areas around there, and then here. I've never even visited Lothlorien."

"What?" asked Estel. "How is that possible?"

Legolas shrugged. "You have never visited Mirkwood," he said. "So it may be a little confusing to you. We are a very secluded people. There are very few people allowed into our realm, and we are wary of strangers."

Estel snorted. "Aye, I have heard the stories about the Dwarves."

Legolas frowned slightly. "They were trespassing, and we didn't know why. We probably saved their lives. If they had been left to wander for much longer, something would have killed them, or they would have killed themselves from starvation or lack of water. But we haven't survived this long by being welcoming to anyone who strays within our borders."

Legolas sighed. "War breeds wariness, Estel. And my father fought in the Last Alliance, knew all along that the shadow would return. We do not have a safe haven like you have here. And so we keep to ourselves, mainly. I am one of the few in Mirkwood who has been here. None of us have been far enough south to reach Lothlorien. It's too dangerous, and most of us…prefer to stay away."

Estel wanted to ask more, but Legolas beat him to it, continuing on as they walked up the path. "What was the way someone once described wood elves, compared to the Noldor here? 'Less wise, more dangerous' were the words, I think. And it is true. We have no great libraries in Mirkwood like the ones here. And we are constantly fighting. And I think, after a while, after the Last Alliance, it just became easier to draw away, to become secluded. We have enough to worry about within our own borders. We rarely have the strength to look beyond them as well."

Estel paused, not really knowing what to say, and Legolas chuckled slightly. "It is not like you to have nothing to say, Estel."

Estel rolled his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he said sarcastically. "I thought you would appreciate the quiet."

Legolas grinned. "That is true," he said. "It was just surprising."

Estel muttered something under his breath, and jabbed an elbow into Legolas' side. Legolas merely dodged sideways and stuck his leg out, tripping up Estel. To Estel's credit, he regained his balance quickly and swiped at Legolas, catching the blond elf' shoulder with enough force to push him over, if only a little.

Legolas laughed merrily. He did seem to laugh a lot more than his brothers did, seemed to be more willing to find things cheerful than the other elves Estel knew. And it was infectious. Estel felt a grin growing across his face as he tried to trip Legolas up, and his deeper laugh joined with Legolas' light lilting chuckle.

The game continued until they got inside, and even then Legolas nearly managed to trip Estel going up the stairs. Legolas laughed, and they finally got into Estel's rooms.

Estel peeled off his new coat and hung it up next to the fire, far enough away so the leather wouldn't be damaged. "I am soaked," he muttered, trying to push damp hair out of his eyes and only succeeding in getting mud across his face.

Legolas crossed over to the fireplace and knelt down. In a few moments the fire was roaring merrily, and the room seemed brighter. "At least it wasn't snowing," he said with a smile. "It is beautiful, the snow, but it makes everything a lot harder."

Estel snorted. "Says an elf," he said. "I sink into snow if I try and walk on it. And I get cold. Elves don't feel the cold."

Legolas grimaced as he pulled off his leather vambraces, water dripping from them. "Horses can't walk on snow," he pointed out. "It means we cannot take supplies anywhere in the forest if we cannot carry it, and we cannot get anywhere faster than a run. Besides," he said with a shiver. "Just because I don't feel the cold, doesn't mean I don't like getting wet."

"But being wet is far worse when you are cold as well," said Estel pulling his tunic over his head and grabbing a thick towel from outside his bathroom. He started trying to dry his hair. "And you don't get cold."

"That's not exactly true," said Legolas. "Elves can become cold. It just takes a lot more to do so."

Estel snorted. "Aye, like the Helcaraxe. Not exactly something you find in your average winter." He stopped towelling his hair, and dumped the towel onto his bed. Legolas suddenly laughed, and Estel looked over at him. "What?"

Legolas chuckled. "Your hair looks like a bird's nest," he said with a grin. "Do you ever brush it?"

"Of course!" said Estel, running his hands through it to try and tame it. "Maybe. Occasionally."

Legolas grinned. "I thought so." He picked up another towel, and held it up. "May I?"

"What's wrong with your own chambers?" asked Estel, but he nodded, and Legolas swung his long blond hair over one shoulder to begin drying it off.

Legolas shrugged. "Your rooms are closer, and I was beginning to get fed up of the water droplets dripping down the back of my neck." He grimaced as another droplet ran down the side of his cheek and fell onto the floor. "But it doesn't take the Helcaraxe to make us feel cold. Belhadron, my second in command, once fell through the ice over the Forest River during the Long Winter. It took us nearly four minutes to get him out. I'm pretty sure he felt the cold then."

Estel chuckled. "Anyone who fell into a frozen river would feel the cold," he pointed out. He grimaced as he pulled his wet boots off, and put them by the fire, next to where Legolas had put his boots. "Ai Valar, sometimes I hate the rain." He changed into another pair of boots quickly, his feet still a little damp.

Legolas smiled, and they kept talking until both were changed out of their wet clothes and as dry as they could be right now. Estel paused. "Where are my brothers?"

"I don't know," said Legolas, and if his reply was ever so slightly too quick, Estel didn't notice. "It will be dinner soon. We should head down."

Estel nodded, and they left his chambers together. Down the stairs Estel stuck out his leg and nearly sent Legolas sprawling down the stairs, saved only by his quick reflexes and the balcony. Estel laughed, and then ran down the stairs before Legolas could repay the favour.

To Be Continued...

Awww they're so adorable. I just want to hug them to pieces!

As always, reviews are very welcome.